Chapter 2

(Tape 5 / Ps: 1- 46)

Today we come to the second chapter which deals with the ascetic practices. They are given here because the practice of these helps us to further scrape away the mental defilements. First we need the purity of virtue or moral conduct. In addition to that we need to practice some of these ascetic practices so that we can at least diminish the mental defilements.

In this chapter thirteen ascetic practices are treated. It is said in the book that these thirteen ascetic practices were allowed by the Buddha. In Vinaya PiÔaka and also in Sutta PiÔaka these practices are mentioned. They are not precepts. We practice them not as precepts but as something in addition to the precepts. There are all together thirteen of them. A list of them is given in the book in paragraph 2. They are 1. The refuse-rag-wearer’s practice, 2. The triple-robe-wearer’s practice, 3. The alms-food-eater’s practice, 4. The house-to-house-seeker’s practice, 5. The one-sessioner’s practice, 6. The bowl-food-eater’s practice, 7. The later-food-refuser’s practice, 8. The forest dweller’s practice, 9. The tree-root-dweller’s practice, 10. The open-air-dweller’s practice, 11. The charnel-ground-dweller’s practice, 12. The any-bed-user’s practice, 13. The sitter’s practice.

In the Visuddhi Magga the meaning of the words or the meaning of the names is explained first and then the practice itself is explained. The explanation of the names is mostly with regard to the PÈÄi language. Therefore the translation may be a little awkward.

The first one is called ‘the refuse-rag-wearer’s practice. Before the robes given by lay people were allowed by the Buddha, monks had to collect the robes themselves. That means they had to go to places like a rubbish heap or charnel ground or whatever and pick up pieces of cloth thrown away by people. They would cut away the parts that were weak. Then they would take the good parts and put them together and make a robe out of them. That is the way monks obtained robes before the Buddha allowed robes to be given by lay people.

Actually Buddha did not refuse to allow robes for monks to be given by lay people, but no occasion arose. So Buddha did not lay down any rule. Then at one time the great physician, JÊvaka, got two pieces of very good cloth. So he went to the Buddha and requested the Buddha to accept the cloth. Then he requested the Buddha to allow the monks to accept robes offered by lay people. From that time on monks were free to accept robes given by lay people or to collect pieces of cloth and make them into robes.

The first ascetic practice is the practice of the refuse-rag-wearer. That means if a monk undertakes to practice this ascetic practice, he must not accept robes from lay people. Instead he must pick up material for a robe and make his own robe.

In the book in paragraph 15 there are 23 sources of robes or actually of material that can be made into robes. The first one is one from a charnel-ground. The second one is from a shop and so on. These are described in the Visuddhi Magga. These 23 are the sources of material for robes allowed for monks as well as those who undertake this practice.

After explaining these 23 sources of material for robes the author gives some explanation of the practice. Let us go to paragraph 19. “One given thus ‘We give to the Order’ or got by those who go out for alms-cloth is not a refuse-rag.” People sometimes give robes to the Community, to the Order, not to an individual monk. So the Order accepts these robes. When there are enough robes to be distributed, the distribution takes place. A robe which has been given to the Sa~gha and which is got by the monk who practices this practice, is not a refuse-rag. He must not use such a robe that is received as a share from the Sa~gha.

Suppose there are ten monks living at a monastery and there are ten robes. One of the monks will distribute the robes to the different monks. The best robe goes to the eldest monk according to the seniority spent as a monk.

Then sometimes it seems that monks go out for alms-cloth. That means that they go out to collect cloth instead of alms. The usual thing is that we go out every morning for alms. We pick up our bowls and go into the city to receive alms. Here they go out not for alms but for robes. A robe received in either of these ways is not a refuse-rag.

In the 23 sources of materials for robes there is one which is mentioned as a robe of a bhikkhu, of a monk. That means a robe given by a monk to another monk who undertakes this practice. With regard to that there is something to know.

In this passage in about two sentences Venerable NÈÓamoli misunderstood the PÈÄi words. I will explain not following his translation. A monk may give a robe to a monk who is undertaking this practice. But if the non-dhuta~ga monk (That means this monk is not practicing ascetic practices.) gives the robes to a dhuta~ga monks (These monks practice the ascetic practices.), when he gives the robe to the dhuta~ga monks if he gives according to seniority of the dhuta~ga monks, then that robe is not a refuse-rag. That robe is not allowable for that monk. There are people who build a monastery or a building. They decide that they will offer robes to the monks that will live in their monastery. That kind of robe is also not a refuse-rag. So if non-dhuta~ga monk gives robes to dhuta~ga monks, he must give them not according to seniority, but give them as a personal gift. That is what is meant here.

In Venerable NÈÓamoli’s translation he misunderstood one word. “And in the case of one presented by a bhikkhu, one given after it has been got (at a presentation of robes by householders), at the end of the rains.” That is quite wrong. There is the PÈÄi word ‘vassa’. It means rain or it means year. The second meaning is year. Also it means a year spent as a monk. If somebody asked me, “How many vassas do you have”, I would say, “I have 41 vassas.” That means I have 41 years as a monk. When the robes are distributed, they are distributed according to seniority. Suppose there are 100 monks but only 50 robes. The 50 robes are distributed to the 50 most senior monks. They will stop there. When they get more robes, they will give to the 51^st monk and so on. This is how robes given to the Order are distributed. When they distribute, they must distribute according to seniority.

The PÈÄi word ‘vassa’ here means years spent as a monk and not ‘at the end of the rainy season’. It is interesting, but it is funny. The word is ‘vassagga’. ‘Vassa’ can mean rains, year, or year spent as a monk. ‘Agga’ can mean the end, but it is not usual that it means end. ‘Agga’ means the edge. So he took it to mean ‘the edge of the rains’ or ‘the end of the rains’. It is quite wrong. Here ‘agga’ does not mean the edge. ‘Agga’ is something like a portion or a proportion, proportion as the vassa. And ‘vassa’ here does not mean rainy season but the years spent as a monk.

So when the non-dhuta~ga monk gives robes to dhuta~ga monks, he must not give according to the seniority of the dhuta~ga monks. He must give them away. That is the meaning here. That is a robe given by a non-dhuta~ga monk to a dhuta~ga monk.

Now if that non-dhuta~ga monk got the robe when the lay people put the robe at his feet, not into his hands (The lay people put the robe at his feet and the monk picks up.), if it is that way and the non-dhuta~ga gives into the hand of the dhuta~ga monk, then it is called ‘pure in one way’. When a robe is put at the foot of a monk, it is called ‘pure’. When it is given into the hand of a monk, it is not called ‘pure’. So it is pure in one way.

Then if lay people offer robes into the hands of a monk and that monk puts the robe at the feet of a dhuta~ga monk, it also is ‘pure’ in one way only. If the lay people put the robe at the feet of a monk and that monk gives to the dhuta~ga monk by putting the robe at the feet of the dhuta~ga monk, then the robe is called ‘pure’ in both ways.

The robe which is put into the hand of a non-dhuta~ga monk and then is put into the hand of a dhuta~ga monk is a not so good robe. Let me see. It is not a ‘strict man’s robe’.

The practitioners of this dhuta~ga are divided into three: the best one, the medium one and the least one. Three grades are given here.

“Herein, one who takes it only from a charnel ground is strict.” He is the best one. He takes a robe from a charnel ground only. It is impossible nowadays. Even in our country it is impossible. In the olden days people wrapped the body with cloth and left it at the cemetery. The body was neither buried nor cremated. So the monks could pick up such cloth from the charnel ground. So nowadays there can be no first class dhuta~ga monk with regard to this particular practice.

“One who takes one left (by someone, thinking) ‘One gone forth will take it’ is medium.” That means somebody leaves the robe somewhere so that some monks can see. So when the monks see it, they can pick it up. If a dhuta~ga monk takes that robe he is said to be of medium grade.

“One who takes one given by being placed at his feet (by a bhikkhu) is mild.” So there are three grades in every one of the 13 practices. There are three grades of practitioners.

The benefits of the practice are given. “He actually practices in conformity with the Dependence.” There are four kinds of Dependence for monks - clothing, food, dwelling place and medicine. They are called ‘Dependence’. When a monk depends upon the cloth got from a charnel ground and so on, he is said to be practicing in conformity with the teaching of this dependence.

“He is established in the first of the Noble One’s Heritages.” The reference is given here A.II, 27. There are four Noble One’s Heritages. That is to be content with whatever robes one gets, to be content with whatever food one gets, to be content with whatever dwelling place one gets, and practicing meditation. This is for monks. These are called the ‘Four Heritages of the Noble Ones’. The Commentator said “He is established in the first of the Noble One’s Heritages.” That is to be content with whatever robes he gets.

The second one is the triple-robe-wearer’s practice. There are three robes allowed for monks. If a monk uses only three robes, then he is said to undertake this ascetic practice. Let me show you the three robes. This is the lower garment. This is one. This is the upper robe. It is twice the size of that one. These are the usual two robes that we use everyday. There is another one called a ‘saÑghÈÔi’ in PÈÄi. It has two layers. We call it a ‘double-robe’. It has more sections than the other robe. That robe has only five sections or five rooms. We call them ‘rooms’. This may have about 25.

Student: Who makes these robes?

Teacher: Lay people now make them commercially. The saÑghÈÔi is actually used as a blanket. It is a double-robe, so in winter we use them as a blanket. These three robes are allowed by the Buddha.

When he wanted to allow robes, the Buddha tried it himself. It is said in our books during the coldest day in the year, maybe December, he put on only one robe maybe during the night. He tried it and he could stay with one robe for the first watch of the night. Then he felt cold. So he took another robe. He was able to keep himself warm until the second watch of the night. Then he took another robe. Then that robe could maintain him until the third watch. At the end of the third watch he felt cold again. So he took another robe. So there were four robes. These four robes were allowable for the monks. These four robes became three because two were made into one. We now have three robes. A monk who undertakes to wear only three robes - no more robes, nothing to change - is called a monk who practices this kind of ascetic practice or dhuta~ga.

Student: I have a question. If someone wanted to become a monk and live strictly, it might be difficult. The Buddha was not in Alaska.

Teacher: That’s right. You know I am wearing this shirt here and this hat. I would never use these in Myanmar. We have to adapt to the climate of the place we live in. Buddha lived in India. India is not so cold as America or as Alaska. We have to modify some of his sayings.

Maybe the minimum, the least of clothes, you can survive with is the idea. That should be the minimum here. Some people have ten or twelve sets of clothes maybe. They are actually not necessary. What is a bare necessity for you is one set of dress. It is something like that.

Monks had to dye the robes themselves in the olden days. At the time of dying first one dyes the upper cloth or inner garment. ‘Inner garment’ means the smallest one or the upper garment. Having dyed it, he should wear that round the waist and dye the other. When he dyes the robe, he puts on one and then he dyes the other one. The other two robes can be worn as an upper robe or as a lower garment at that moment. The two robes can be worn as an upper robe or as a lower garment at that moment. After he finishes dying, he puts on the other robe, he dyes the other one and so on.

This is mentioned here in paragraph 24. The ‘cloak of patches’ is the saÑghÈÔi. “But he is not allowed to wear the cloak of patches round the waist.” It should not be used as a lower garment even temporarily. The saÑghÈÔi should never serve as a lower garment. “This is the duty when in an abode inside a village.” That means inside a village or close to a village. “But it is allowable for him in the forest to wash and dye two together.” He may have nothing to put on, but since he is in the forest, he could do that. “However, he should sit in a place near (to the robes) so that, if he sees anyone, he can pull a yellow cloth over himself.”

Student; Why is this color used?

Teacher: I think it is easy to get this color and it may be considered appropriate for those who have left behind the home life and that have gone into the homeless life. The color is actually something between yellow and brown. No specific color is mentioned, but it must not be bright yellow. It must not be blue. It must be somewhere between yellow and brown. We get the dye from the back of a certain tree, from the inner core of the jack-fruit tree. I’ve asked people here whether they know the jack-fruit tree and they have said ‘no’. Jack-fruit is similar to bread-fruit tree. The outer skin of the fruit has something like thorns, but not sharp thorns. It is a tropical fruit. The inner core of that tree is a dark brown color. We take that inner core and chop it into small pieces. From these we get the dye. When the cloth is dyed with that dye it comes to resemble something like the color of these robes.

A monk who undertakes this practice can have a fourth robe or fourth piece of cloth. That is mentioned here. It is called a shoulder cloth. That is just a piece of cloth, one span wide and three cubits long. It is a piece of cloth to wrap around his body - to keep warm and also to soak up sweat so it does not soil the outer robe. So only this fourth piece of cloth is allowed for him.

The next one is alms-food-eater’s practice. If a monk undertakes this practice, he must go for alms everyday. He must not accept invitations. Four kinds of food are mentioned that are not acceptable. In paragraph 27 now this alms-food-eater should not accept the following 14 kinds of meal: a meal offered to the Order, a meal offered to specified bhikkhus (There is one monk who assigns monks to accept food. He may assign a particular monk to accept food at a certain man’s house. That kind of food is called that offered to a specified monk.), an invitation, a meal given by a ticket (that means by lot or by ticket.), one each half-moon day (That means once in a fortnight. Some people offer food once in a fortnight.), one each Uposatha day (That means the same thing except it is the full-moon day or the new-moon day.), one each first of the half-moon (that means one day after the full-moon and new-moon.), a meal given for visiting monks, a meal for traveling monks, a meal for sick monks, a meal for those who are nursing sick monks, a meal supplied to a particular residence (a particular vihÈra), a meal given in a principal house (That means the first house in the village.), and a meal given in turn (By turns people give meals or food.). “ These are the 14 kinds of meals or food which a dhuta~ga monk must not accept. He must go out for alms and accept only the food from the houses which he goes to.

There are also three grades in this practice. “One who is strict takes alms brought both from before and from behind.” Do you understand that? ‘From before and from behind’ means - suppose a monk is standing in front of this house. If he is standing in front of this house and if a person from the house behind brings food, that means ‘food from behind’ and ‘food from before’ means food from the next home. So one who is strict takes alms brought both from before and behind.

“He gives the bowl to those who take it while he stands outside a door.” He stands at the door. People come out and say “Please give us your bowl. We want to fill your bowl with food.’ He will give his bowl to them. That is allowable for him.

“But he does not take alms by sitting (and waiting for it to be brought later) that day. The medium one takes it as well by sitting (and waiting for it to be brought later) that day; but he does not consent to (its being brought the next day.” He does not consent to be waiting the next day. “The mild one consents to alms (being brought) on the next day and on the day after. Both these last miss the joy of an independent life.” You know sometimes I cannot do what I want to do because I have accepted an invitation and I have to go to the invitation. Something like that is meant here.

“Both these last miss the joy of an independent life. There is perhaps, a preaching on the Noble One’s Heritages in some village. The strict one says to the others ‘Let us go, friends, and listen to the Dhamma’. One of them says ‘I have been made to sit (and wait) by a man, venerable sir’, and the other says, ‘I have consented to (receive) alms tomorrow, venerable sir’. So they are both losers.” They both didn’t get the opportunity to go to the Dhamma talk. “the other wanders for alms in the morning and then he goes and savors the taste of the Dhamma.”

Let’s read the benefits. “He actually practices in conformity with the Dependence because of the words ‘The Going Forth’ by depending on eating the lumps of alms food; he is established in the second of the Noble One’s Heritages; his existence is independent of others; it is a requisite recommended by the Blessed One thus ‘Valueless, easy to get, blameless’; idleness is eliminated; livelihood is purified; the practice of the minor Training Rules of the PÈÔimokkha is fulfilled (These minor Training Rules say that you must go for alms. When you go for alms, you must be mindful.); he is not maintained by another (he does not depend upon another.); he helps others; pride is abandoned; craving for tastes is checked; the training precepts about eating as a group, substituting one meal (invitation for another), and good behaviour are not contravened.”

Here also the translator misunderstood one word. This sentence refers to three precepts or three rules for monks. One rule says that if a group is invited, they must not go in a group and accept the food. They may go one by one but not as a group. ‘A group’ here means four monks or more.

‘Substituting one meal invitation for another’ means accepting a later invitation. For example someone comes to me and invites me to take food. Then another man comes and invites me to accept food. If I accept the second invitation and actually accept the food of the second man, then I break this rule. That is what is meant here. ‘Substituting’ here means not accepting or taking the food of the first man, but taking the food of the second man. That is why we have to be careful about invitations. It is on a first come first serve basis. We are not to skip one invitation in favor of another, in favor of the later invitation.

‘Good behaviour’ is not good behaviour. He misunderstood the word ‘carita’. There is another rule that forbids monks to visit houses either before or after taking a meal at a house. Suppose that I am invited to take a meal at a house. Before taking a meal at that house, I must not visit another house. And after taking a meal at that house, I must not visit another house. If I want to visit, then I must inform another monk - “Venerable sir, I am going to visit that house.” If he informs another monk who is close to him, then it is all right. If there are no monks or if he does not inform another monk, either before or after taking a meal in that house, then he breaks that rule. That rule in PÈÄi is called ‘carita’. ‘Carita’ can mean good behaviour. It can also mean wandering, going about. Here it is the second meaning, so visiting. The breaking of these three rules is referred to here - accepting food as a group, accepting later invitation and visiting houses before or after taking a meal at the appointed house. If you go for alms every day, you do not have to worry about any of these rules. You will not break any of these rules because you do not accept invitations, but you go out for alms. So there can be no breech of the rules if you undertake the practice of going out for alms every day.

The next one is the house-to-house-seeker’s practice. That means if a monk undertakes this practice, he must not skip a house. Suppose he walks down one street. If there are ten houses on the street, he must stop at ten houses. He must stop at each house. He must not skip this house and go to the next house. That is what is meant by a house-to-house-seeker.

The Commentator gives some advice here. First he must look to see if the road is clear. If it is not clear, he must not take that road. He must take another one. If he does not get food at a certain house or certain houses every day, then he may regard those houses as ‘not houses’. He can skip those houses because every day they do not give him food. In that case he can skip.

Let us look at the benefits in paragraph 33 about the third or fourth line. “He avoids the dangers in being supported by a family.” That is not correct here. He always makes this mistake. “He avoids the dangers in frequenting families.” A monk who frequents families is considered a bad monk, a monk who is not behaving well. But if he goes for alms, he does not have to visit them. He avoids the danger of being intimate with families or lay people.

The next ascetic practice is the one-sessioner’s practice. That means eating at one sitting only. “when the one-sessioner sits down in the sitting hall, instead of sitting on an elder’s seat, he should notice which seat is likely to fall to him and sit down on that.” In a monastery where many monks live and there is a dining hall, the monks sit according to seniority. He must go a little early and try to find a place where he will not have to give his seat to a senior monk. Monks sit according to seniority. After he has sat down if his teacher or his preceptor arrives and the meal is still unfinished (He sat down and is still eating.), it is allowable for him to get up and do the duties. Actually it is not only allowable, but he should or he must get up and do the duties. We have duties to our teachers and our preceptors. If we are sitting and a teacher or a preceptor comes in, we must stand up and greet him and do whatever we can for his comfort. If a monk is sitting and eating, and his teacher or preceptor comes and he is a one-sitting-eater, he should get up and do the duty. After getting up, he must not eat again.

“But the Elder TipiÔaka Cula-Abhaya said ‘He should either keep his seat (and finish his meal) or (if he gets up he should leave the rest of) his meal (in order not to break the ascetic practice).” He could do either of the two. He should ignore his duty to his teachers and go on eating or he should get up and do his duties for his teachers and forfeit the meal. “And this is one whose meal is still unfinished, therefore let him do the duties, but in that case let him not eat the (rest of the) meal.” This is what the Elder said.

Student: How long would one undertake these practices?

Teacher: As long as one wants to. There is no fixed duration of time.

Student: Is this usual?

Teacher: Now it is very unusual. Monks do not practice this much now. Out of the 13 the ones that monks practice most are eating at one sitting, one bowl eating, sometimes staying at a cemetery, sometimes staying under a tree, but not for long.

Student: Do you choose one at a time, or two, or three?

Teacher: You may practice two, or three, or four. We will come to that later. It is said that if you can get a suitable place such as an open-air-place close to a cemetery you can practice all 13 at the same time. The Elder MahÈ Kassapa is said to have practiced all 13 practices all through his life. He was the foremost of those who undertake the ascetic practices.

“One who is strict may not take anything more than the food that he has laid his hand on whether it is little or much. And if people bring him ghee, etc., thinking ‘The Elder has eaten nothing’, while these are allowable for the purpose of medicine, they are not so for the purpose of food.” As medicine they are allowable but not as food.

“The medium one may take more as long as the meal in the bowl is not exhausted; for he is called ‘One who stops when the food is finished’. The mild one may eat as long as he does not get up from his seat. He is either ‘One who stops with the water’ because he eats until he takes (water for) washing the bowl, or ‘One who stops with the session’ because he eats until he gets up.”

There is a joke among monks that you can sit from morning until noon and eat as much as you like. If you do not break your sitting position, you can sit from morning until noon.

“The benefits are these. He has little affliction and little sickness; he has lightness, strength and a happy life; there is no contravening (rules) about food that is not what is left over from a meal (I will talk about that later.); his life conforms to the (principles of) fewness of wishes, and so on.” These are the benefits for the one-session-eater or the one-sitting-eater.

The next one is the one-bowl-eating practice. It is not so easy. You use only one bowl when you eat.

“When at the time of drinking rice-gruel, the bowl-food eater gets curry that is put in a dish, he can first either eat the curry or drink the rice-gruel.” He may not eat both at the same time. He may drink the rice-gruel first and then eat the fish curry.

“If he puts it in the rice-gruel, the rice-gruel becomes repulsive when a curry made with cured fish, etc., is put into it.” In Burma we have what we call ‘fish paste’. It is very smelly. “So it is allowable (to do this) only in order to use it without making it repulsive. Consequently this is said with reference to such curry as that. But what is not repulsive, such as honey, sugar, etc., should be put into it. And in taking it should be the right amount.”

“It is allowable to take green vegetables with (one) hand and eat them.” But he ‘should not do so’, not ‘unless’. “But he should not do so for they should be put into the bowl.” ‘Unless he does’ is not correct here. Although he can take or put the vegetable in his hand, it is not proper for him to do so. He should put it in the bowl.

“Because a second vessel has been refused, it is not allowable (to use) anything else, not even the leaf of a tree.” Sometimes people use the leaf of a tree as a bowl or as a receptacle. Even that is not allowed.

There are three grades. “Herein, for one who is strict, except at the time of eating sugarcane it is not allowed (while eating) to throw rubbish away, and it is not allowed while eating to break up rice-lumps, fish, meat and cakes. (The rubbish should be thrown away and the rice-lumps etc., broken up before starting to eat.) The medium one is allowed to break them up with one hand while eating and he is called a ‘Hand Ascetic’. The mild one is called a ‘Bowl Ascetic’; anything that can be put into his bowl he is allowed, while eating he is allowed to break up (rice-lumps, etc.) with his hand or (such things as palm sugar, ginger, etc.) with his teeth.”

“The moment any one of these three agrees to a second vessel, his ascetic practice is broken.” So he can use only one bowl. In our country after taking a meal, we drink water. It is customary. When we want to drink water, we put the water into the bowl and drink from the bowl. So when I saw Zen people eating from their bowls, washing their bowls, and then drinking water from their bowls, I was reminded of this practice. It may have some connection with this practice.

Here the practice is to have only one bowl. You put everything into one bowl and eat from this bowl including water and other beverages.

“The benefits are these. Craving for variety of tastes is eliminated; excessiveness of wishes is abandoned; he sees the purpose and the (right) amount in nutriment.” ‘The right amount’ should go. What is meant here is that he sees the near purpose in taking food. Buddha said that monks must take food not to be proud of themselves or to make merriment, just enough to keep themselves alive so that they may practice Buddha’s teachings. That is the purpose in food. Here I think ‘food’ may be better than ‘nutriment’, although it is not wrong. The purpose of taking food is not to beautify oneself, not to take pride in one’s strength and so on. Here he eats in only one bowl, so he cannot have that kind of pride and other things.

“He is not bothered with carrying saucers, etc., about; his life conforms to the principles of fewness of wishes and so on.” One word is not translated. That word is that ‘He is not distracted while eating’. Because he uses only one bowl, he doesn’t have to be looking for other bowls. So he is not distracted. That word is missing in the translation. This is the one-bowl-eater.

The next one is the later-food-refuser’s practice. It is difficult to understand this one. When a monk eats and if he refuses to take some more, he must not eat other food after changing his posture. Let us say I am sitting and I am eating. Somebody comes and offers something to me. I say, “No, I don’t want that. It is enough.” If I have done so, I can eat on until I finish my meal. That is so if I remain sitting. If I stand up or if I walk and then want to eat again, I cannot eat. There must be some act of Vinaya to be performed in order for me to eat. That is what ‘later-food-refuser’ means. As soon as I sit down, I am not said to be refusing anything. But after eating something even one lump of food, and then I refuse, if I change my position or posture, I cannot eat other food.

This monk who undertakes this ascetic practice cannot take food after having made it allowable for him. Suppose I refuse the offering. If I want to eat after breaking this posture, then I must take that food to another monk and let him eat a little and say “That is enough for me.” It is what is left over from him. Then I can eat it.

It is something like a punishment. You refuse and then you want to eat. You must eat another person’s leftovers. It is something like that.

A monk who does not undertake this ascetic practice can eat that way if he wants to eat more. A monk who undertakes this practice must not eat in this way. He must avoid picking up the food and going to another monk and having him give what is left over. He cannot do that. That is what is meant here. The words in the square brackets I do not know from where he got them. They don’t help much in understanding.

There are three grades here. “There is no showing that he has had enough with respect to the first lump, but there is when he refuses more while that is being swallowed.” That means in the rule it is said that a monk who refuses while eating or a monk after he has started eating, so if he has not eaten at all, there can be no refusal. He eats one lump and the next lump he refuses. So there can only be refusal at the second and other lumps. “So when one who is strict has shown that he has had enough” (That means he has refused.),he does not eat the second lump.” He must stop there. He has only one mouthful and then he is finished.

“The medium one eats also that food with respect to which he has shown that he has had enough.” So the medium one could go on eating.

“But the mild one goes on eating until he gets up from his seat.” That means he can eat as much as he likes provided that he does not change his posture.

This involves a certain rule. That rule says that if you have refused to accept something and then you want to eat again, then you must do something if you change posture. That is why monks do not want to say ‘no’ when something is offered to them. They may accept it even though they may not eat it. They don’t want to say ‘no’ because that amounts to refusal. They cannot eat later.

There is something like talking in a roundabout way. In Burmese we have an expression for that - that which goes around that road. When someone offers something to me, I will not say ‘no’, but I will say something like, directly translated, ‘It is complete’ or something like that. Sometimes the lay people don’t know the monks’ language. So I will say ‘It is complete.’ or something like that and the lay person may not know that I refuse to accept. So it is better to accept and then you can leave it. This is the later-food-refuser’s practice. This practice involves a rule in the PÈÔimokkha.

OK. I think we should stop here. It will take two weeks to finish this chapter.

Student: Are the other practices from the PÈÔimokkha too?

Teacher: No. These practices are not from the PÈÔimokkha.

Student: But you said this one was.

Teacher: This one involves a PÈÔimokkha rule. The PÈÔimokkha rule is that I must not eat if I have refused. Even though I have refused if I want to eat later, I can have it made left over by another monk. If I keep this practice, then I cannot do that.

Student: it would seem from this that fasting is not permissible as a practice.

Teacher: Fasting?

Students: Not eating.

Teacher: Not eating altogether?

Student: Just drinking water.

Teacher: No. That is not accepted.

Student: Even for one, or two, or three days?

Teacher: It is OK to fast if you want to but not as a practice because one has to eat to keep alive. Fasting in Buddhism is fasting for half a day. When people keep eight precepts, they do not eat from noon until the next morning.

Student: Can you eat if you do not get alms-food in the morning?

Teacher: Then you must go without food. You cannot eat after noon on any account. Sometimes when traveling I have to skip meals. You know when you board a plane they don’t serve a meal until afternoon.

Student: In Burma you never have that problem.

Teacher: Yes because in Burma you always get enough to eat. People are very willing. They are glad to give to monks. So it is not a problem in Buddhist countries. But here and in other countries it can be a problem.

Student: The robes are done commercially now. There is one season or festival when they offer the robes.

Teacher: No. Actually what lay people do is to make cloth not robes. Now is the season for offering KaÔhina robes. KaÔhina robes are different from ordinary robes. The difference is that we must make the robes in one day. Suppose a lay person comes to a monastery and offers not a finished robe but the cloth to be used as a KaÔhina robe. If we accept it, then we must finish it that day. It must become a robe that day. That is in the olden days when no ready-made robes were available or they do not want to offer ready-made robes. In that case all the monks in the monastery must work together. Some boil dye. Some do stitching. Some do cutting and so on. Everyone must lend a hand.

Following that tradition people in Burma now have a festival weaving cloth. They transfer the expression ‘unstale’ to their weaving. They try to weave from say 6pm until just before dawn the next morning. There is a contest. Girls enter this contest weaving cloth for robes. I don’t know how they decide the winner.

Actually the word ‘unstale’ is used among monks. That means we must make the robe on the very day that the cloth is accepted. It must not go ‘stale’ into the next day. We call such a robe an ‘unstale robe’. An ‘unstale robe’ is a robe that is made on the same day.

People now say that they are offering ‘’unstale robes’. But actually what they do is just weave cloth and the monks have to do that. Now we are in better shape because now there are ready-made robes and we don’t have to do anything. But sometimes people want monks to do something as they did in the olden days. When I was living in my country in Sagaing a certain head of a monastery said why not do something like they did in the olden days. So he had people bring cloth to the monastery. It was a great work because even the smallest part of the robe has to be dyed two or three times, not just one time. If there was rain, it would be very difficult. It was lucky that it was in Upper Burma. We were able to finish the robe in time. It was not really dry, but it could be used as a robe.

That is why there are commercial robes. Now monks do not know how to make robes - the dimensions of the parts or how to stitch them. Most monks do not know that now.

When I first came to this country, people asked me to order robes from Burma. I said why not make the robes here. So I gave them the dimensions of the robes.

Student: What are the rectangles in the robe?

Teacher: Actually they represent according to our books the patterns of the fields. Buddha was traveling. He was up on a mountain. He looked down and saw the fields. You know fields are small in India, not like fields in the United States. Here machines are used so fields may be two or three miles long. There a field may be only ten or twenty yards wide. So the Buddha saw these boundaries of the fields. Then the Buddha asked Venerable Œnanda if he could make a robe like this. Venerable Œnanda said yes he could. So Venerable Œnanda made a robe which looked like the pattern of the fields.

We usually have five sections for this robe. This is one section. There is some stitching. There is another section. The third section is wider than the other two. There is a small room here. There are two rooms in one section. These stitches must be cut and then stitched together again. But nowadays they do not cut. They just fold it and stitch it.

Student: The idea is that you get pieces of cloth from where ever.

Teacher: That’s right. You may not get the right size. You have to pick up small pieces of cloth and make them into a robe.

Student: Does everybody follow the same pattern?

Teacher: Yes. This has more sections. The number of sections is odd - 7,9,11, 13, 15. OK.

SÈdhu! SÈdhu! SÈdhu!

(Tape 6 / Ps: 47-93)

Today we come to the forest-dweller’s practice. Before we study the forest-dweller’s practice, we need to understand which is a forest and which is a village in contrast to the forest. In order to understand the village we need to understand the precincts of a house - what is a house, what is its precincts, then a village, and then a forest.

A village is a habitation of human beings. It may consist of only one house or many houses. It may have a wall surrounding it or there may be no wall. Human beings may be living there or may not be living there at the present moment. Even a caravan is called a ‘village here if it has been inhabited for at least four months. Such a place is called a ‘village’.

Then the Visuddhi Magga describes the precincts of a village. You will find that in paragraph 48. The precinct of a village is determined according to whether a village has a wall surrounding it or not. If it has a wall surrounding it, and if it has two gate-posts like that of the city of AnurÈdhapura in SrÏ Lanka. AnurÈdhapura is an ancient city. It was the place or stronghold of TheravÈda Buddhism in SrÏ Lanka. It was in that city that the great monastery was situated where Venerable Buddhaghosa went. He got permission from the monks there to compile the Commentaries. It seems that there were two gate-posts, one inside the other. A person standing not between the gate-posts as is stated in the translation, but a person standing at the inner gate-posts (So gate-posts may be two - one is the outer gate-posts, the other is the inner gate-posts.) can throw a stone.

How the stone should be thrown - there is a difference of opinion here. Those who are well-versed in Vinaya said that they should throw the stone as when they want to show their strength. That means they should throw the stone with their maximum strength. The place where the stone falls is called the ‘precinct of a village’.

However those who are well-versed in Suttanta said that the stone should not be thrown in that way. They said it should be thrown just as when you scare away the crows. You may not use much strength when you scare away the crows. In that way where the stone falls is the precinct of a village. That is with regard to a village which has a wall around it.

What about the village which has no wall? There must be an outermost house. From the precincts of that outermost house one must throw a stone in the same way. So we have a house, a precinct of a house, a village, a precinct of a village. Now someone standing at the precinct of a house throws a stone and the stone falls. That is a village. Then there is another throw of a stone and that is the precinct of the village. That is with regard to villages that have no walls surrounding them. Outside that area it is called a ‘forest’.

What is a forest? According to Vinaya a ‘forest’ means a place other than a village and the precinct of a village.

Student: Does ‘precinct’ just mean boundary?

Teacher: It’s not boundary. It is some area which belongs to the village. It is not the village proper, but it is the vicinity of a village, the area of a village.

Student: I guess here they would call it a sphere of influence.

Teacher: It is an area outside the village proper, but it is supposed to belong to the village. Outside that area is what we call a ‘forest’ here.

Forest according to Vinaya is one thing, to Suttanta it is another, and to Abhidhamma it is still another. We have three kinds of forest. According to Vinaya a forest is something other than a village and a village precinct. According to Abhidhamma an area outside the gate-posts, immediately outside the gate-posts, is called a ‘forest’. According to Suttanta there is still another definition of a village. We shall have to follow the Suttanta method here. By Suttanta method a forest is a place at least 500 bow-lengths from a village or village precincts. That bow should be the bow used by the teachers of archery. It is a strong bow. A strong bow is said to be about 4 cubits in length. That means about 6 feet. So we multiply 6 feet by 500, about 3000 feet. So a forest is about 3000 feet from a village or the precinct of a village. Such a place is a forest here.

If a forest monastery has no wall, then we have to measure from the outermost building. From that building we have someone throw a stone. And then from where that stone falls there is another throw of a stone. Between these two stone throws there must be 3000 feet.

The way to throw the stone is as stated in the Majjhima NikÈya and the Commentaries. Roughly speaking a place called a ‘forest’ should be away from human habitation about 3000 feet or 1000 yards. If it is closer than that, it is not called a ‘forest’.

In paragraph 50 there is the following statement: “This is the measure here”. The PÈÄi word used is pamÈÓa which can mean measure and which can also mean means of right knowledge. In Hindu logic there are means of right knowledge - right knowledge by perception, by inference, by textual authority and so on. Here the ‘measure’ really means authority. So this is the authority. That means we have to follow the Commentary on the Majjhima NikÈya. “In the Majjhima Commentary it is said that, omitting the precincts of the monastery and the village, the distance to be measured is that between where the two stones fall.” That means stones that fall from the monastery and stones that fall from the village. Between where these two stones fall there must be 500 bow-lengths.

Student: I don’t know anybody who could throw a stone 2000 yards.

Teacher: No. It is `1000 yards from the stone-throws The stone-throw should not be 1000 yards or 500 bow-lengths. You stand at the gate-post of a village and throw a stone. Then another person stands at the precinct of a forest monastery and throws a stone. Between these two stones there must be 1000 yards.

Student: Why does a religious document define such things? Was it because they were the government at that time?

Teacher: That is not a government measurement. I think if it is about 1000 yards you get some seclusion. You don’t hear much noise from the village in the olden days. Nowadays you can get noise everywhere - from planes, from loud-speakers. It is very difficult now to get a place which we can really call a ‘forest’.

“Even if the village is close by and the sounds of men are audible to people in the monastery, still if it is not possible to go straight to it because of rocks, rivers, etc., in between, the 500 bow-lengths can be reckoned by that road (That means by the regular road.) even if one has to go by boat.” Maybe it is a winding road but if it is 500 bow-lengths away it is all right.

“But anyone who blocks the path to the village here and there for the purpose of (lengthening it so as to be able to say that he is) taking up the practice is cheating the ascetic practice.” The PÈÄi word used is thief, so a thief of the ascetic practice.

I think the others are not difficult to understand. The best person, the strict person, should always meet the dawn in the forest. He must be in the forest at the time of dawn. The medium one is allowed to live in the village for the four months of the rain. When it is the rainy season, he can live in the monastery. The mild one could stay in the VihÈra for the winter months too. So he may live in the VihÈra for four months of the rainy season and four months of winter. He practices this ascetic practice for only four months in the summer. This is the mild one.

The benefits are not difficult to understand. This is the forest-dweller’s practice.

The next is the tree-root-dweller’s practice. It means living under a tree. That person should avoid certain kinds of trees given here. One should avoid a tree near a frontier because there can be fighting between two kings or two people that rule those places. He must avoid such a tree.

He must avoid a shrine-tree because people gather around that tree. He could not get seclusion.

He should avoid a gum tree. That is dangerous. He should avoid a fruit tree, a bat’s tree, a hollow tree (A ‘hollow tree’ means one that has a hollow where snakes and other wild animals may live.) , or a tree standing in the middle of a monastery. Many people come to the monastery and so he may not get seclusion. He can choose a tree standing on the outskirts of a monastery (away from where people gather). That is the sort of tree he has to choose.

There are three grades. “Herein, one who is strict is not allowed to have a tree that he has chosen tidied up.” The strict one must live there just as it is. “He can only move the fallen leaves with his foot while dwelling there.” He must not make that place lovely and attractive.

“The medium one is allowed to get it tidied up only by those who happen to come along. The mild one can take up residence there after summoning monastery attendants and novices and getting them to clear it up, level it, scattering sand and making a fence round with a gate fixed in it.” There are always three kinds of people. The moment he enters a covered place he breaks his practice.

The next one is the open-air-dweller’s practice. There is no building, no tree. He must live in the open-air. This may be possible only in the tropical countries of Asia, not in this country. He is allowed to enter the Uposatha-house. That is the house where monks assemble twice a month and recite the rules of PÈÔimokkha and listen to the recitation. “An open-air-dweller is allowed to enter the Uposatha-house for the purpose of hearing the Dhamma or for the purpose of the Uposatha. If it rains while he is inside, he can go out when the rain is over instead of going out while it is still raining. He is allowed to enter the eating hall or the fire room (Fire room is the sweat room. It is something like a sauna.) in order to do the duties, or to go under a roof in order to ask elder bhikkhus in the eating hall about a meal (to invite them for a meal or to ask them what they want), or when teaching or taking lessons, or to take beds, chairs, etc., inside that have been wrongly left outside.” For those purposes he can enter the place with a roof.

“If he is going along a road with a requisite belonging to a senior monk and it rains” - That means he is taking some things of a senior monk. If he is doing so - “he is allowed to go into a wayside rest-house. If he has nothing with him, he is not allowed to hurry in order to get to a rest-house; but he can go at his normal pace and enter it and stay there as long as it rains.”

Here also there are three grades. “The strict one is not allowed to live near a tree, or a rock, or a house.” He must be away from them. He must not live close to such things. “He should make a robe-tent right out in the open and live in that.” That means a tent made out of cloth or robes. It may be used to ward off the wind, heat and cold.

“The medium one is allowed to live near a tree, or a rock, or a house so long as he is not covered by them.” So he can live near these things.

“The mild one is allowed these: a (rock) overhang without a drip-ledge cut in it (It is something like a patio. When the raindrops fall, they flow away and not into that area.), a hut of branches, cloth stiffened with paste, and a tent treated as a fixture, that has been left by field watchers, and so on.” They put up such a building. Then when they leave, they just leave that building. He can take up that building.

The next one is the charnel-ground-dweller’s practice. “The charnel-ground-dweller should not live in some place just because the people who built the village have called it ‘the charnel-ground’ for it is not a charnel ground unless a dead body has been burnt on it.” When they first build a village, they put aside some space for a cemetery. If no dead body has yet been buried or cremated, then it is not yet a cemetery.” At least one body must have been burnt there. As soon as even one body has been burnt on it, it becomes a charnel ground. Even if it has been neglected for a dozen years it is so still.”

A person who dwells at a cemetery has to be very careful. He has to follow some kind of regulations. “One who dwells there should not be the sort of person who gets walks, pavilions, etc., built, has beds and chairs set out and drinking and washing water kept ready and preaches Dhamma (He must not do all these things.); for this practice is a momentous thing (It is a very important thing.).

“Whoever goes to live there should be diligent. And he should first inform the senior elder of the Order or the king’s local representative in order to prevent trouble.” Sometimes thieves may frequent that place. They may leave something there. When the owners come and the thieves have left, they may take the monk as a thief. There is danger of being suspected. So a monk who is going to live in a cemetery should inform the senior monk at the monastery and also an official of the government.

“When he walks up and down, he should do so looking at the pyre with half an eye.” That means he looks at the pyre and looks at the walkway, back and forth in that way.

“On his way to the charnel ground he should avoid the main roads and take a bypath. He should define all the objects (there) while it is day.” So he must go there during the day and then make notes of things there because if he does not make notes of things there and goes at night, he may get frightened of some things there. So he has to make notes of all these things - “so that they will not assume frightening shapes for him at night. Even if non-human beings wander about screeching, he must not hit them with anything.” Cemeteries are supposed to be the place of ghosts and spirits. And they may make noise.

“It is not allowed to miss going to the charnel ground even for a single day. The reciters of the A~guttara say that after spending the middle watch in the charnel ground, he is allowed to leave in the last watch.” A night is divided into three parts - first watch, second watch, and third watch. “Spending the middle watch in the charnel ground, he is allowed to leave in the last watch.” So the last watch is from 2-6am. From 6-10pm is the first watch and from 10pm-2am is the middle watch.

“He should not take such foods as sesamum flour, pease pudding, fish, meat, milk, oil, sugar, etc., which are liked by non-human beings.” ‘He should not take’ means he should not eat these things, not ‘take’ these things to the cemetery. He cannot do that either.

Student: What is pease pudding?

Teacher: I don’t know what that means. What does ‘pease’ mean?

Student: Some sort of sesame.

Teacher: I think it is pea or it may be rice mixed with peas, mÈsabhatta. In our countries people prepare rice with peas.

“He should not enter the homes of families.” The reason is given in the footnote. “He should not go into families’ houses because he smells of the dead and is followed by pisÈca goblins.”

The strict one should stay where there is constant activity, where there are always burnings and corpses and mourning. The medium one is allowed to live where there is one of these three - burning, corpses, or people crying. The mild one is allowed to live in a place that possesses the bare characteristic of a charnel ground already stated.” If the place is one where at least one dead body has been burned, then that is a place for him.

Student: ??? mindfully to see non-human beings?

Teacher: It is a belief that there are non-human beings at the charnel ground or cemetery. They may show themselves to the monk staying there. It is believed that ordinary human beings cannot see ghosts. But if the ghosts wish, they can show themselves to human beings. They can assume frightening features and frighten the people away from the charnel ground.

Student: What is the actual experience? Do monks really see spirits?

Teacher: They want to scare people away from the place, but a monk must be firm and not be afraid of them. But he must not hit them. If he wants to hit them, he must hit them with mettÈ (loving-kindness). So lots of loving-kindness is necessary for monks who live at cemeteries. This is undertaken as a special practice to shake away the defilements.

Student: You say this is a special practice. It sounds like the hate-type from among the three types should not go to the charnel ground. Maybe greedy people should go there.

Teacher: That’s right. It is most suitable for those that are greedy.

The twelfth one is the any-bed-user’s practice. Actually it does not necessarily mean ‘any bed’. It means ‘any place to stay’. It may be a small hut for him. When a person visits some monastery, he must go to a monk who is in charge of assigning places or huts to guest monks. If he is assigned a hut, then he must take that. The strict one must just take that; he must not refuse. He must not go and see before accepting it. It is called ‘any-bed-user’s’ or ‘any-hut-user’s practice’.

“The any-bed-user should be content with whatever resting place he gets thus.” ‘Resting place’ here means a place for him to stay. “ ‘This falls to your lot’. He must not make anyone else shift (from his bed).” Sometimes older monks have the right to claim a hut given to a younger monk. If he is undertaking this practice, then he must not do that. He just takes what is given to him or what falls to him.

There are three grades. “Herein, one who is strict is not allowed to ask about the resting place that has fallen to his lot ‘Is it far?’ or ‘Is it too near?’ or ‘Is it infested by non-human beings, snakes and so on?’ or ‘Is it hot?’ or ‘Is it cold?’.” He is not to do any of these things.

“The medium one is allowed to ask, but not to go and inspect it. The mild one is allowed to inspect it and, if he does not like it, to choose another.”

Now the last one, the sitter’s practice. That means he does not lie down at any time.

“The sitter can get up in any one of the three watches of the night and walk up and down: for lying down is the only posture not allowed.”

There are three grades once again. “Herein, one who is strict is not allowed a back-rest, or cloth band, or binding-strap (to) prevent falling while asleep.” The back-rest is obvious. It is not difficult to understand. The cloth band and the binding-strap are difficult to understand. The cloth band is some kind of cloth you put around your body when you sit. It may be something like this - a cloth or a robe. The other one is a band, not necessarily a big cloth, but a band of cloth wrapped around the body. There is one other thing, but it is not mentioned here. That is a hand-band. That means sitting this way. (The hands and arms intertwine to support the legs.) That is not allowed for monks.

Student: During meditation or at any time?

Teacher: It is not allowed at any time for monks.

Student: In our tradition we have something called a ‘chin-rest’. It is a stick where you can rest your chin.

Teacher: No. This is not a chin-rest. It is a cloth wrapped around the body or a band of cloth.

“The medium one is allowed any one of these three. The mild one is allowed a back-rest, a cloth band, a binding strip, a cushion, a ‘five-limb’, and a ‘seven-limb’. A ‘five-limb’ is (a chair) made with (four legs and) a support for the back. A ‘seven-limb’ is one made with (four legs), a support for the back and an (arm) support on each side.” So most chairs here nowadays are seven-limb - four legs, back-rest and one arm support on each side. A mild one can use such a chair to sit on and to sleep in it (in a sitting posture). He may use a cushion.

“They made that, it seems for the Elder PÊÔhÈbhaya.” Some people made such a thing, a seven-limb chair for the Elder PÊÔhÈbhaya. He practiced that ascetic practice and meditation. He became a Non-Returner. He attained NibbÈna. It is allowable to use such things when you take up this ascetic practice.

I think you have heard of the SayÈdaw at Taungpulu who was the founder of Taungpulu Monastery in Boulder Creek. He always undertook this practice. He never lied down to sleep for whatever reason. He always slept on a chair or on a couch. All of his disciple monks have to undertake this kind of practice. It is not easy.

Student: Always?

Teacher: So you don’t see a bed at Taungpulu Monastery. You see only chairs or something like that. They sit and they sleep this way, resting on the back-rest.

These are the thirteen ascetic practices which are said to shake off defilements. In order to shake off defilements monks have to practice one, two or more of these ascetic practices as and when they are able to.

Now we come to the explanation on miscellaneous aspects. The first one is treating ascetic practices according to Abhidhamma. The first one is ‘As to the Profitable Triad’. That is difficult to understand. “Herein, to the Profitable Triad: all the ascetic practices, that is to say, those of Trainers, ordinary men and Men whose cankers have been destroyed, may be either profitable or ( in the Arahant’s case) indeterminate.” At the beginning of Abhidhamma the ultimate realities are treated in triads, different triads. There are 21 such different triads. In the first triad it is said “There are those that are kusala, there are those that are akusala and there are those that are neither kusala nor akusala.” If one classifies the ascetic practices according to this triad, it is said that the ascetic practices are either kusala or indeterminate (neither kusala nor akusala). There can be no akusala ascetic practice. When an ordinary man (puthujjana) who has not reached any stage of enlightenment and also those who have attained various stages of enlightenment but who are not Arahants (Sekhas) practice these ascetic practices, their actions are said to belong to kusala. When the Arahants practice the ascetic practices, their practice belongs neither to kusala nor to akusala. It is indeterminate (abyÈkata). There can be no akusala in the ascetic practices..

But there is someone who asks “Can we practice one of these practices wit an evil purpose?” I want to be popular with people. I want to get gifts from them. I pretend to practice these ascetic practices. Cannot there be akusala there? The answer is ‘no’. Even though you can live in a forest with an akusala mind, with akusala consciousness, the ascetic practice itself cannot be akusala.

‘Ascetic practice’ means the practice of an ascetic. An ascetic is one who shakes off akusala. A person who does not shake off akusala is not called ‘an ascetic’. If he cannot be called ‘an ascetic’, his practice cannot be called ‘an ascetic’s practice’. So ascetic practice cannot be akusala. It can be either kusala or in PÈÄi it is called abyÈkata (indeterminate). ‘AbyÈkata’ or ‘indeterminate’ means neither kusala nor akusala.

Also an ascetic practice is defined as knowledge. Knowledge is called ‘an ascetic practice’. ‘Knowledge’ here means paÒÒÈ. ‘PaÒÒÈ’ means either kusala or indeterminate. There can be no paÒÒÈ in akusala. Since ascetic practices are taken to be paÒÒÈ, they cannot be akusala. So ascetic practices may be only kusala or abyÈkata (wholesome or indeterminate).

There are some people who say that ascetic practices are out of this triad. They don’t belong at all to the triad. Ascetic practices do not belong to wholesome (kusala), unwholesome (akusala) or indeterminate (abyÈkata). They are outside these three.

There was a monastery in AnurÈdhapura in SrÏ Lanka which differed from the opinions of the great monastery. They held some views that were different from the views of the great monastery. Those people said that the ascetic practices do not belong to any of the three - neither to kusala, nor to akusala, nor to abyÈkata.

The Commentator, Venerable Buddhaghosa, said if so it must be a concept. ‘Concept’ according to Buddhism is not reality, is not paramattha. If it is not reality, how can it be practiced. Therefore we cannot accept their opinion. Also if we take ascetic practices to be concept, to be non-existing, then there will be a contradiction with the words said by the Buddha - “proceeded to undertake the ascetic qualities”. The ascetic practices should not be taken as paÒÒatti or as concept. Ascetic practices are to be undertaken as kusala or abyÈkata.

Then there are the explanations of the words: ‘ascetic’, ‘ascetic practices’, ‘those who talk about ascetic practices’ and so on. They are not difficult to understand. Some people practice themselves but do not encourage others to practice. Some only encourage others to practice and do not practice themselves.

The examples are given here like the Venerable Bakkula in paragraph 82. “One who has shaken off his defilements with an ascetic practice but does not advise and instruct another in an ascetic practice, like the Venerable Bakkula, is ‘ascetic’ but not a ‘preacher of asceticism’.” He practiced himself, but he did not encourage others to practice.

Then the other is Upananda. He encouraged others to practice, but he did not practice himself. Then there is another one who did not practice himself nor did he encourage others to practice.

The last one is the dhammasenÈpati. What is that? The General of the Dhamma. Do you know who that is? It is Venerable SÈriputta. Venerable SÈriputta is always called in PÈÄi ‘dhammasenÈpati’, ‘General of the Dhamma’. Venerable Œnanda is called the ‘Treasurer of the Dhamma’. He is the ‘Keeper of the Dhamma’.

“Ascetic states: the five states that go with the volition of an ascetic practice, that is to say, fewness of wishes, contentment, effacement, seclusion, and that specific quality are called ‘ascetic states’ because of the words ‘Depending on fewness of wishes and so on’.” I do not agree with the translation ‘that specific quality’. The PÈÄi word here is a strange word. It means desire for those practices, desire for these wholesome states. It is desire to practice or desire for these wholesome states. Actually it is knowledge. It is explained later in paragraph 84.

The desire to practice or desire for wholesome states is knowledge. “Herein, by means of non-greed a man shakes off greed for things that are forbidden. By means of non-delusion (knowledge) he shakes off the delusion that hides the dangers in those same things.

And by means of non-greed he shakes off indulgence in pleasure due to sense desires that occurs under the heading of using what is allowed.”

Now let us look at the thirteen practices and who can practice which ones. Let us look at which is suitable for which person. They are suitable for one of greedy temperament and for one of deluded temperament. There are six temperaments. We will study them in the next chapter.

“Because the cultivation of ascetic practices is both a difficult progress (Actually it means a difficult practice. It is not an easy thing to take up ascetic practices.) and an abiding effacement; and greed subsides with the difficult practice, while delusion is got rid of in those diligent by effacement. Or the cultivation of the forest-dweller’s practice and the tree-root-dweller’s practice here are suitable (also) for one of hating temperament; for hate too subsides in one who dwells there without coming into conflict.” He is alone so he does not quarrel with any person. He might quarrel with himself.

“As to groups and also singly. Now 6 as to groups: these ascetic practices are in fact only eight, that is to say three principal and five individual practices. Herein, the three, namely, the house-to-house-seeker’s practice, the one-sessioner’s practice, and the open-air-dweller’s practice, are principal practices. For one who keeps the house-to-seeker’s practice will keep the alms-food-eater’s practice, and the bowl-food-eater’s practice; and the later-food-refuser’s will be well-kept by one who keeps the one-sessioner’s practice.” When one is undertaken, the others are virtually undertaken.

“And what need has one who keeps the open-air-dweller’s practice to keep the tree-root-dweller’s practice or the any-bed-user’s practice? So there are these three principal practices that, together with the five individual practices, that is to say, the forest-dweller’s practice, the refuse-rag-wearer’s practice, the triple-robe-wearer’s practice, the sitter’s practice, and the charnel-ground-dweller’s practice, come to eight only.” So thirteen can be counted as eight only when we just take the principal ones.

Then there are two connected with robes, five connected with alms food, five connected with resting place and so on. What is interesting or what is important is who can practice which ascetic practices.

In paragraph 90 “Singly: with thirteen for bhikkhus (Monks can practice all thirteen practices.), eight for bhikkhunis (the nuns can practice eight.), twelve for novices (SÈmaÓeras can practice twelve.), seven for female probationers and female novices.” There are two kinds of female ordained persons before one becomes a bhikkhuni - probationers and novices. If a girl or woman wants to become a nun, she must spend some time under probation, about two years keeping only six precepts. Then she becomes a sÈmaÓeri, a female novice. After that she becomes a nun, a bhikkhuni. For such persons seven are allowable. “And two (are allowable) for male and female lay followers.” Lay people can also practice some of these practices and there are two that they can practice. Altogether there are 42.

“If there is a charnel ground in the open that complies with the forest-dweller’s practice, one bhikkhu is able to put all the ascetic practices into effect simultaneously.” So a monk can practice all the thirteen practices if there is a charnel ground in the open and it is away from the village by about 1000 yards. A monk living there can practice all thirteen of these practices simultaneously.

“But the two, namely, the forest-dweller’s practice and the later-food-refuser’s practice are forbidden to bhikkhunis by training precepts.” Bhikkhunis have to keep those training precepts, so they cannot keep those ascetic practices. Bhikkhunis must not be on their own. They must live not too close, but close to the monks. So they cannot practice the forest-dweller’s practice. “It is hard for them to observe the three, namely, the open-air-dweller’s practice, the tree-root-dweller’s practice, and the charnel-ground-dweller’s practice, because a bhikkhuni is not allowed to live without a companion.” A bhikkhuni is not allowed to live alone. She must have a companion. “And it is hard to find a female companion with like desire for such a place, and even if available, she would not escape having to live in company.” The purpose in keeping these practices is to enjoy seclusion. If you have to live with another person, then you lose that. “The purpose of cultivating the ascetic practice would scarcely be served. It is because they are reduced by five owing to this inability to make use of certain of them that they are to be understood as eight only for bhikkhunis.” So bhikkhunis can practice eight of them.

“Except for the triple-robe-wearer’s practice all the other twelve as stated should be understood for novices.” So male novices can practice twelve of them. Novices cannot use the third robe, the double-layer robe. That is used by or allowed for monks only. SÈmaÓeras or novices do not use the third robe. So they cannot practice the ascetic practice of having three robes only.

“All the others seven (are) for female probationers and female novices.” So female probationers or female novices can practice seven out of the eight for nuns.

“The two, namely, the one-sessioner’s practice and the bowl-food-eater’s practice, are proper for male and female lay followers to employ.” Lay people can employ one-sessioner’s practice (eating at one sitting only) or the bowl-food-eater’s practice (eating in one bowl only). These two lay people can practice. “In this way there are two ascetic practices. This is the commentary ‘as to groups and also singly’.”

So these thirteen practices are not much practiced nowadays. Those living in villages or towns cannot practice most of these practices. Those who live in forest monasteries can practice many of them. There are still monks who practice many of them like living in a cemetery, living under a tree, eating in one bowl, not lying down, and keeping only three robes.

These practices are meant for effacement of mental defilements. We cannot do away with mental defilements altogether by these practices. We can reduce them. We can scrape them away little by little with these practices.

According to the Visuddhi Magga a monk must first purify his moral conduct. A monk must have pure sÊla. Then he must practice some of these ascetic practices. Next he will go on to practice meditation. So these two chapters are about the basic practices before one practices the calm (samatha) meditation or insight (vipassanÈ) meditation.

OK. Next week we go to concentration. There are very detailed instructions for taking up the practice of meditation.

Student: Are these ascetic practices and virtue etc., are those sort of an absolute requirement before you can go on to concentration or the next step? Are they the basics? How important are they? Especially for ordinary people what is their relevance?

Teacher: Purity of morals is absolutely necessary because without purity of morals one cannot get concentration when one practices meditation. But the ascetic practices are just extra practices. So even if you are a monk and you do not practice the ascetic practices, still it is possible for that monk or other people to practice meditation provided that they have moral purity. Moral purity is essential for the practice of meditation. That is because if there is no moral purity, we suffer from remorse or feelings of guilt.

Suppose my sÊla is not pure. When my sÊla is not pure, i have this feeling of guilt. People may think that I am a good monk, but in fact I am bad. When I try to practice meditation, this thinking comes up to me again and again and torments me.

When there is this feeling of guilt, there can be no happiness or no joy. There can be no tranquillity, concentration and so on. In one of the Suttas the successive stages to realization are given. The first one is moral purity. Moral purity helps us to be free from remorse. Freedom from remorse promotes joy. Joy promotes happiness. Happiness promotes tranquillity. Tranquillity promotes another kind of comfort or happiness. And then happiness of mind and body promote samÈdhi (concentration). In order to get concentration you need some kind of comfort or happiness, happiness in the sense of peacefulness. So moral purity is very important.

Ascetic practices are just extra practices. For lay people it is not difficult to get moral purity. Even though their moral habits were not pure in the past before the practice of meditation, they can make up their mind that they will not break rules in the future and they will keep their moral habits pure and take precepts. And then that is all there is to it.

But for monks it is not so easy because there are some offenses which cannot be exonerated just by confession. Some rules when they are broken require confession only. Others require confession and giving up of the things involved in it. Then some require that one stay under probation as long as one hides the offense.

Suppose I touch a woman with lusty thoughts. That is an offense. If I do not declare the offense to another monk for ten days, then I must be under probation for ten days. If I cover it up for one month, then I must be under probation for one month and so on. Also I need monks to assemble and do some kind of formal act to take me back into the fold of Sa~gha. Such offenses are not easy to get rid of. For a monk it is more difficult to get purity of morals than for lay people.

Student: Because lay precepts are fewer?

Teacher: Lay precepts are fewer, yes. The minimum requirement for lay people is only five precepts - not killing, not stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lying, and no intoxicants. These are the five. Some people may break one or two of these rules. If before the practice of meditation, that person really sincerely decides to refrain from breaking these rules in the future and to keep his moral conduct pure during the meditation, then that is all right for him. He is said to be pure in his moral habits. A monk must do something more than just making up his mind and confessing. So it is more difficult for a monk to get purity of morals than lay persons.

Student: That doesn’t make so much sense. If a lay person can just make up his mind and then achieve peace of mind in meditation, why couldn’t a monk just make up his mind and achieve peace of mind in meditation?

Teacher: A monk has broken the rule laid down by the Buddha. The five precepts are not laid down by the Buddha. They are something like universal precepts. But the rules to be followed by monks are laid down by the Buddha. When I break a rule, I show some disrespect for the Buddha, for the one who laid down the rule. So there is a double offense there - breaking the rule is one offense and disrespect for the Buddha is another. There are two things. So monks have to get free from such offenses by some procedure. One may get free from some offenses just by confessing to another monk. Other offenses require being under probation for some days or some months. It is more difficult for monks to be pure in morals than lay people.

Student: What does ‘probation’ mean?

Teacher: That means first you must ask the Sa~gha to assemble. Then the Sa~gha must formally recognize you as being under probation. When you are under probation, you are not to enjoy being given respect by younger monks. At the dining hall you have to sit at the end of the line although you may be the eldest of the monks there. It is a kind of punishment. At the end you need twenty monks to assemble and perform a formal act of Sa~gha to take you back into the fold of Sa~gha. While you are under probation, you do not enjoy all the privileges of a monk. You are not to accept respect from younger monks. You are not to sleep under the same roof with another monk. So it is more difficult for a monk than a lay person to get purity of morals before the practice of meditation.

Student: I have another question about the ‘concept idea’. Does that controversy or confusion arise because there are some kinds of practices which might be similar to ascetic practices which are done merely for the purpose of attaining a certain type of power, psychic powers, magical powers and so on, but the person who is doing those practices, which may be similar to the ascetic practices, may not have virtue, may want to get worldly power? Is it possible that this sort of practice is confused with the ascetic practices that are mentioned here? By definition if it is not done with a wholesome mind, it is not an ascetic practice.

Teacher: I think that the difference of opinion is whether ascetic practices are to be included in the categories of wholesome, unwholesome or neither wholesome nor unwholesome. Those people took ascetic practices to be outside those three. To them it is just a concept. So there is no reality to represent these practices. According to the opinion of the Visuddhi Magga and so the common opinion of the Elders, the ascetic practice is reality. When you take up these practices, you have volition in your mind or the knowledge of it. They are units of reality, paramattha. Those other monks took these practices to just be concepts. The argument from the side of Venerable Buddhaghosa is that if they are concept, then concept has no existence of it own. It exist only in the mind, in the imagination. So they cannot be realities. But ascetic practices belong to reality, to the four ultimate truths - consciousness, mental factors, material properties, and NibbÈna. So ascetic practices are not concepts. They are realities. Therefore they belong to wholesome or abyÈkata. They cannot be unwholesome, and they cannot be outside of wholesome, unwholesome and indeterminate either.

Student: Are there practices just from a historical aspect where people do things very similar to these to attain some kind of supernatural state?

Teacher: That’s right. But they cannot be called ‘ascetic practices’ because they promote mental defilements. They promote greed or some kind of attachment and so on. OK.

SÈdhu! SÈdhu! SÈdhu!